When she fell seriously ill, her son suggested that she let Taizong order a general amnesty in the hope that a gesture of clemency might move the gods to save her, but the empress refused.
“Life and death are determined by fate, which human beings cannot change,” she said. “If doing good brings fortune, I’ve never done anything wrong in my life. If not, what’s the use of praying to gods? An amnesty is a matter of grave consequence. It should not be trifled with. Don’t do it for my sake.”
To make a stand against the prevalent practice of expensive funerals among both the upper class and the common people, the empress told Taizong on her deathbed, “I’ve done very little for the country. Please don’t waste money to build a mausoleum for me. Just bury me in the mountain. No need to call back the children to the capital. It would only make me upset to see them crying.”
When she died at the age of thirty-five, Taizong’s grief knew no bounds. To comply with her wish, no treasure was buried in her tomb; the only objects there were some human figures and horses made of wood and ceramics.
“I hope she won’t be disturbed,” remarked Taizong. “There’s no treasure inside. Grave robbers ought to spare her tomb. All my family should be buried this way.”
AN ENLIGHTENED RULER
Taizong’s regnal years were called Zhenguan, meaning “true vision”—the vision of a great empire under a wise ruler. Taizong wanted history to remember the grandeur and splendor of his dynasty. To a large extent, he was successful. When he died in 649, Taizong had laid down the foundation of a dynasty that was to last nearly three hundred years.
Tang China was confident, vibrant, and open to new ideas and new immigrants. The wealth of Tang China attracted visitors from far and near. The poetry, painting, and architecture of Tang China were the admiration of the world.
The capital, Chang’an, was the world’s most open and cosmopolitan city in the seventh century. It was the center of art, literature, fashion, and advanced learning in Asia. The city’s most imposing feature was the imperial palace with its halls, towers, gardens, pavilions, and compounds. The streets were bustling; the marketplaces were crowded. Envoys from Persia, Japan, and India flocked to pay their respects. Merchants from the West, Buddhist monks from India, Nestorian priests from Syria, and Taoist magicians rubbed shoulders with one another.
Tang China recruited talents from all over the world. Many generals and officials were of non-Chinese origin. Tang culture heavily influenced those of Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Never since the mighty Han dynasty had China attained such power and prestige.
During the Tang period, Chinese started traveling and emigrating overseas. They identified themselves as the “people of Tang,” and if they settled down in a place, they called their enclave the “town of Tang.” To this day Chinese in the West still refer to Chinatown, whether it is the Chinatown in New York or the Chinatown in London, as the “town of Tang,” and Chinese in Southeast Asia refer to themselves as the “people of Tang.”
* * *
One year before his death, Taizong summed up his life in the following words.
Reading history, I discovered all the founding emperors of new dynasties came to power only after the age of forty, except Emperor Guangwu of the Han dynasty, who was thirty-three when he ascended the throne. I was an army commander at eighteen. I defeated all the rebel forces at twenty-four and became emperor at twenty-nine. I was quite young when I joined the army. I didn’t have much time to study. Therefore, after becoming emperor, I made an effort to read whenever I was free.
I’ve learned the principles of good governance and put them into practice. Our country was going downhill, but it is now in good shape. Foreign barbarians used to invade China, but they are now our vassals. I’m very lucky, for I’ve done better than many rulers in history. I want to make sure that my rule has a good beginning and a good ending.
His self-appraisal is not exactly modest but by and large fair. Taizong wanted history to remember him as a forceful and decisive yet wise and benevolent monarch. Throughout his career, he retained the qualities that singled him out as an enlightened ruler—he was reflective, self-conscious, open-minded, and receptive to criticism.
His willingness to listen to remonstrance stemmed from his vivid memory of Emperor Yang’s misrule and subsequent downfall, from his wish to be a brilliant ruler as well as a superior military leader, and from his desire to leave a good name in history’s annals, a desire not unrelated to his fratricidal act.
Today, he is revered as among the greatest emperors of China. As a wise and rational monarch, he is a role model for all rulers. And his dynasty is recognized as one of the most glorious eras in Chinese history.
Author’s Note
This book is the result of years of research as well as the study of numerous Chinese classics. My primary source was The Zhenguan Executive Guide (Zhenguan Zhengyao), compiled by Wu Jing (670–749).
Other significant source materials are as follows:
· Tang Taizong and General Li Jing on the Art of War, compiled by Du You (735–812)
· Guide for the Emperor (Difan) by Tang Taizong
· A Comprehensive Mirror for Rulers (Zizhi Tongjian) by Sima Guang (1019–86) et al.
· History of the Sui by Wei Zheng (580–643) et al.
· Old History of the Tang by Liu Xu (870–945) et al.
· New History of the Tang by Ouyang Xiu (1007–72) et al.
These works were written in classical Chinese. For the reader of today, they need to be translated into modern Chinese vernacular with annotations. So, for example, the original Zhenguan Executive Guide has 90,000 words, while the modern Chinese version stretches to 450,000.
My grandfather Tang Heng, a classical scholar, taught me classical Chinese when I was a teenager and gave me a solid grounding in classical prose and poetry as well as calligraphy. I also learned to compose classical verse, which deepened my understanding of classical Chinese. This knowledge stood me in good stead when I carried out research on Tang Taizong. The Ruler’s Guide has distilled, condensed, and reorganized the original texts in the hope that the wisdom of Tang Taizong might be more accessible to modern Western readers.
The Romanization of Chinese names presents some difficulty. This book adopts the pinyin system, the official phonetic alphabet in China, but some proper names, such as Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Sun Tzu, are spelled in their traditional ways according to the Wade-Giles system because Western readers are already familiar with them.
Dynasties in Chinese History
Xia ca. 2070–1600 BC
Shang ca. 1600–1046 BC
Zhou ca. 1046–256 BC
Spring and Autumn 770–476 BC
Warring States 475–221 BC
Qin 221–206 BC
Han 206 BC–AD 220
Three Kingdoms 220–280
Wei 220–265
Shu 221–263
Wu 222–280
Jin 265–420
Northern and Southern 420–589
Sui 581–618
Tang 618–907
Five Dynasties 907–960
Song 960–1279
Yuan 1279–1368
Ming 1368–1644
Qing 1644–1911
Acknowledgments
I am lucky to have a fabulous editor, Rick Horgan, whose inspiring—and inspired—guidance has helped me fashion The Ruler’s Guide into its current form. I greatly appreciate his cross-cultural insight and global vision as well as his passion for details. I’m much obliged to Jaya Miceli, Kyle Kabel, and Jeff Ward for gracing my book with a handsome cover, elegant interior design, and an excellent map, and to Dan Cuddy for carefully supervising the production process. I would like to thank the entire staff at Scribner for their support and hard work.
I’m heartily grateful to my agent, Nicholas Ellison, for his faith and enthusiasm. I’m deeply indebted to Professor Constance Yang and Audrey Sasaki, who read my earlier drafts and ga
ve me invaluable suggestions. I owe special thanks to Susan Converse Winslow, who read the entire manuscript carefully. Her wise and often-sought counsel has brightened these pages.
My grandfathers and grandmothers taught me to cherish Chinese classics. Their loving memory inspired me to write this book. Both my parents are teachers. In my childhood, they fostered in me a habit of reading and, decades later, as I embarked on this project, gave me their steadfast support. I dedicate this book to them.
© CHINGHUA TANG
Chinghua Tang was born in Shanghai, where he studied at East China Normal University. He subsequently graduated from the London School of Economics and was the first Harvard MBA from the People’s Republic of China. He has worked at several asset management firms, including Barclays, and today runs his own management consulting firm, Concorde Universal Inc. He lives in New York City.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2016011914
ISBN 978-1-5011-3877-5
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The Ruler's Guide: China's Greatest Emperor and His Timeless Secrets of Success Page 11